Monday 'July 14, 1997
S The Battalion
P O RTS
Brave warriors
i&M hosts 30 teams at the Hottest Rugby Tournament
m
I
By Matt Mitchell
The Battalion
ith temperatures soaring
into the upper 90s Satur
day, only the heartiest of
tiletes braved the scorching
eal. But what else would one ex-
ect, as the Texas A&M Rugby
hosted the Hottest Rugby in
tl0ll txas Tournament?
Atotal of 30 teams, including four
,er ) 5 iuth teams, made the trip to Ag-
11111 eland, and the summer brand of 7-
* i-7rugby, as opposed to the 15-on-
® 021 i played during the school year,
:0 °!%sfast and furious.
The tournament is the largest
8^ ia four-state area, and although
leA&M contingent lost in the
mifinals, the Aggies dominated
leir opponents in the round-
jbin qualifier.
We qualified as No. 1 going into
kfinal, with the best point dif-
rential," said team captain and
miorpre-med major Gavin Lof-
is,who had three hat tricks and
cored a total of 68 points. “We
lily had 10 points scored against
and we scored about 180
oints. It’s been damn hot, but it’s
Iso been a lot of fun.”
Even with a steady breeze blow-
igacross the polo fields for much of
leday, many players and specta-
sought refuge from the heat by
Riddling under scant groves of trees
ircramming inside makeshift tents
cl(le11 (ithlawn chairs and Igloo coolers
trewn about.
But as hot as it was outside, the
ictionon the field, from the driving
ackles to the perfectly-timed later-
wasjust as hot.
as
lean
Idedo:
ndtb
The thought of rugby conjures
images of burly, gap-toothed behe
moths hell-bent on dismembering
opponents in the most brutal dis
plays of violence this side of a
Tyson fight.
Rugby is, in actuality, a game of
strategy as well as physical prowess.
The most obvious comparison is to
American football, and the two
games have their share of both sim
ilarities and differences.
“The best way to describe rugby
a
It’s been damn
hot, but it’s also been
a lot of fun.”
Gavin Loftus
Senior pre-med major
is to imagine a football game where
one team is down by a touchdown
with a minute left,” said Steve Rein
hardt, a senior ocean engineering
major. “The other team kicks you the
ball and time runs out, and you don’t
want to go down with it because
then the game is over, so they later
al it right before they are tackled.
That’s rugby.”
A rugby ball is an oblong spheroid
that is bigger and lighter than a foot
ball, with a lot of bounce to it. As a
team runs down the field, players can
pass the ball backwards or kick it for
wards, but they can’t make a forward
pass. As in football, to score, a player
runs into the end zone, but in rugby,
the player has to be in control of the
ball and set it down to score.
To score in such a manner is
called a try, and like football, extra
points are tried for by kicking the ball
through the goal posts. This kick is
no gimme, though, because of one
catch — whoever is kicking must
drop-kick the ball in a straight line
out from the spot in the end zone
where he scored the try.
“It matters to score in the mid
dle,” Reinhardt said. “If you have
three scores over on the sideline
where he won’t make the kick, that’s
six points, which is worth more than
a try. So it’s a challenge.”
As in football, there are different
positions. Big men that act much
like linemen are referred to as props,
and backs are the fast guys that are
comparable, as one might suspect,
to running backs in football.
The quarterback is known as a
scrum half, and is in charge of get
ting the ball from the scrum, a
makeshift huddle and initiating the
ensuing action. The only time play
stops is when the ball goes out of
bounds, making rugby arguably as
non-stop a sport as soccer.
Qespite all the constant action
and excitement, Reinhardt express
es the opinion shared by many of his
colleagues, that rugby is often un
justly viewed as a brutal pastime.
“Rugby gets a bad rap because
people are going to get hurt, yes,”
Reinhardt said, “but people get hurt
in every sport. Just because we don’t
wear pads doesn’t mean people get
hurt more, because tacklers won’t
go for a knee with their helmet be
cause they aren’t wearing a helmet.
They’ll go for around your waist to
take you down.”
-Y'
mm*
i *
SY
--
,4'
:
T
1
M
naii
f]
-
1111111 ll 'j
lit®
Photograph: Stew Milne
A&M’s Carson Hickson runs from a Victoria Rugby Club defender Saturday at the A&M Polo Fields. A&M ad
vanced to the semi-final round.
IHigh school students shoot high at tourney
By Travis V. Dabney
The Battalion
Thecities of Bryan and College Station have
become the center of the women’s high school
basketball world over the last week. Over 150
men’s basketball teams from Arkansas,
Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas have de
eded on the twin cities area for the 11th an-
lalWhataburger Southwest Shootout.
Gordon Loucks, who began this tourna-
:nt 11 years ago and runs it today, started
te tournament with eight teams in Corpus
risti and has seen it grow every year since.
“The amount of growth that we have
ten in this tournament has been just
great,” Loucks said.
The tournament has all the aspects of ma
jor preseason basketball tournaments with the
exception that the determination of a tourna
ment champion is not the prime objective.
“The objective is to not only have fun
playing basketball, but to allow colleges
from all over the country to view some of
the better talent from the four state area,
and allow these girls to showcase some of
their talent to these coaches,” Loucks said.
The gyms that were hosting these games
were filled with college coaches. Coaches
hail from the University of Texas, Texas
A&M, TCU, the University of Miami and
Ohio State University, just to name a few.
■ mmmmmmmmmmmwmmmmmmmim
\y w
its
.. jft |
if 4 ■-
I Y f
ymMSm
i ' '
Photograph: Rony Angkriwan
The East Texas Magic play against the Lady Rockets at the Whataburger Southwest
Shootout this weekend.
T §§ mmm
MlliMiWliMf
“There are college recruiters from one
end of this country to the other here at this
tournament,” Loucks said.
While the tournament benefits the play
ers and coaches, Loucks said the impact on
the community is enormous.
“The community receives a one to two
million dollar impact,” he said.
The tournament has become a real suc
cess because there is no end to its benefits.
The effects run all the way from the players
themselves; the coaches, who have all the
players in one place to evaluate at one time;
and the community, who receives tourist
revenue. The tournament moved from Cor
pus Christi to Bryan-College Station three
years ago to gain more exposure.
“Lynn Hickey [senior associate athletic
director] of Texas A&M was crucial to the
move of this tournament, and it would not
of happened without her help,” Loucks said.
One of the major reasons for the develop
ment of the tournament was the rule changes.
Previously, the University Interscholastic
League, which governs Texas high school ath
letics, did not allow more than three players
from one high school team to participate on
the same summer league team. The rule was
changed to allow the whole team to partic
ipate together, and success has followed as the
number of teams has skyrocketed.
Like many individuals, who work with
young people, Loucks takes great satisfac
tion in this tournament. Loucks spends
countless hours putting together this tour
nament, yet he gains nothing financially. He
spends from November until mid-March
traveling all over the state scouting these
high school hoopsters.
“We do this tournament because we
want to help everyone involved, and I think
that we do that,” Loucks said.
*
l
bfri
Photograph: Rony Angkriwan
A member of the East Texas Magic dribbles the ball upcourt against the Lady Rockets at
the Whataburger Southwest Shootout this weekend.
& taste °f SUMMER
B\
This Week at the MSC
Wed. 16th, 12-lpm MSC Town Hall: Listening Yaxty-free CDs!
Wed. 16th, 4pni MSC Political Forum: "Political Ethics and
Open Government"
Thu. 17th, 8:30pm MSC Film Society: Animal House
Rec Center Pool
(A&M LD- Required)
MSC 230
MSC 201
free admission to all events!
Your Student Union 845-1515
<k
WHAT’S IT LIKE AT THE PLASMA CENTER!
To the staff of the Plasma Center,
I would like to start by saying thank
you to each and every employee for making the
past three years enjoyable in a professional,
efficient and courteous environment. As a
donor since 1993, I have been more than satis
fied with every aspect of your operation, which
allows myself and others to contribute what we
can to community service, all the while being
serviced by diligent, but relaxed, workers.
Everyone at the Plasma Center, from those
behind the front counter to the phlebotomists
to the supervisors, have made great efforts to
insure that each donor feels hygienically safe,
as well as keeping the atmosphere light.
Like most, I started coming to the
Plasma Center for monetary reasons, but I
soon developed acquaintances that appealed to
me almost as much as the original need for
money, enabling me to look forward to each
donation, not only for my wallet’s sake but also
to see my friends. Like I commented to some
one recently, talking to people at the Plasma
Center was like getting mail from a far-off
friend that you don’t get to do much with, but
who you can talk to as often as you write. For
those acquaintances and for your continual
services. I would like to thank all of those I’ve
come to know and appreciate over the past
three years - Emily, and Tracy, Heath, and
Marty, Ada and Josie, etc... more I can’t
remember or those who havp gone on to better
things.
So, as I graduate from this great
University, I bid you all a fond farewell and
strong commendations on such a successful
blend of quality medical practice and friendly
service. Thank you all and have a great sum
mer. Thanks, C.F.
BiologicalS
THE PLASMA CENTER
700 E. University Dr.
268-6050
4223 Wellborn Rd.
846-8855